Friday, September 24, 2010

Is this the language one expects from a Conservative Prime Minister?

The Daily Telegraph summarizes a long interview with the leader of the Cleggeron Coalition. Apparently, the chap, one David Cameron, a.k.a. the Boy-King of the Conservative Party and now of the Coalition Government, talks some about his family, baby daughter, disabled father and his death and other suchlike matters. All of this may be of interest but not really what one wants to know.

Fear not, he will have tax cuts so that people can "all share the proceeds of growth" as he used to say when he was only the Boy-King of the Conservative Party and the Cleggeron Coalition was not even a twinkle in little Nicky Clegg's eye.

People are worried about cuts, he acknowledges, and the Conservatives are worried about the fact that taxes are not going down in the foreseeable future. Indeed, they will probably be rising, starting with VAT. The problem is that the Cleggerons do not tackle the issue from where it matters. They do not because they cannot, being statist near-socialists themselves. The starting point ought to be that there are far too many things the state is doing now that it ought not to be doing; therefore we are going to move towards a position when the state no longer does those things as that is not useful, moral or efficient. In the process, we shall also save the taxpayer huge amounts of money, which will stay in the taxpayer's pocket for the taxpayer to spend as he or she sees fit.

Instead, we get no acknowledgement that the state is tackling with great inefficiency far too many matters. In fact, the state will go on running all these things like education or healthcare but on less money while we all go on paying ever more to that inefficient leviathan. No wonder people are worried. They will have less money and the services they think they are entitled to, having paid their taxes will be run on a shoestring albeit a fairly long and thick one.

But, as I said, fear not.
In the interview he says: “You’ve got to describe what you want the world to look like when it’s all over. That is, that there will be more jobs, higher growth, a stronger economy.

“There will be an ability over time once you’ve sorted out debts and deficits to give people back something from a growing economy. I nearly said, share the proceeds of growth.”
Gosh, how witty and post-modernist in its ironic references. Nevertheless "giving people back something" is not quite the language one expects from a man who calls himself a Conservative. It ain't his to give back - it is ours to keep.

3 comments:

  1. 'proceeds of growth'

    There won't be any growth for the next decade or so.

    Unless they manage to goose the figures like they did during the Blair/Brown administration. To do that they require that all those people who are up to their ears in mortgage and credit card debt want to take on some extra debt. With the housing market decidely 'iffy', I don't think so ...

    Tax cuts in an economy that borrows 100% more than it raises in taxes is ... I don't know how to describe it, really. How about reckless?

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  2. Inept and insane? Just a suggestion.

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  3. so i tell my husband to come back

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